#some of these fit more than other

[lunaticobscurity]

ocs + songs

pharoah thirteen - im-ho-tep

king beetle - battle hymn

marmanousa the barbarienne - power and glory

electrostancya - Гимн Коминтерна

amelia barnfield-lahane - you will know my name

dr. arthur solomon - beethoven's nightmare

abilasha liyanarachi - destruction preventer

isaiah torrance - serpent tongue

[hinamie]

*catboys ur shounen protag*

[dredgesnails]

stardew valley au where joel and skizz are new residents to pelican town (hermit town?). joel just inherited a large farm from his late grandfather and skizz is moving in with his old friend after reconnecting with him and wanting a fresh start. and the townspeople are like, kinda weird.

bdubs is fine enough - he’s a sweet man with a fun personality and he’s the local builder, but it’s almost frightening how fast he constructs new buildings when joel needs them. pearl, their resident postmaster, is also pretty normal other than the fact that skizz never seems to be awake early enough to catch her delivering mail. scar is lovely but he’s never available when joel wants another chicken. the mayor, xisuma, is pleasant too, if a little eccentric at times, but he doesn’t really seem to do much in town.

for the most part, skizz is settling in well. he’s moved in with impulse, who runs the local blacksmith in town, and he gets along well with most of the local townspeople. he’s started spending his evenings at the local saloon listening to ren regale the patrons with fantastical tales while he and stress serve up food and drinks, and he finds himself growing close with cleo, the local sculptor. he even gets a new wardrobe from hypno free of charge, and sometimes helps cub out with his totally scientific studies and creations.

skizz also joins forces with beef (who helps to supply the local general store that xb and keralis run) in terrorising the local manager of the corporate chain grocery store that no one likes. doc is a terrible manager but would make a fun supervillain (according to joe hills, the bookseller who appears once in a blue moon but seems to know doc more than anyone in town).

joel, on the other hand, seems to only be interacting with the strangest residents in town. he discovers the adventurer’s guild after only a couple weeks, and is only somewhat irritated by iskall’s refusal to pronounce his name correctly. false promises to give him prizes if he can kill enough monsters, which is not something joel had expected to be doing when he pictured farm life, but here he is. he stumbles upon a travelling cart one day, and the man inside insists he’s a knight from a faraway land, that he risked his life to make it all the way here to sell his wares. it’s all stuff joel can get cheaper elsewhere.

he’s pretty sure the local doctor has no real medical training, but then he passes out while fighting monsters and he wakes up completely fine, so zedaph probably knows what he’s doing. maybe. when joel isn’t passing out he sometimes makes trips to the library-slash-museum, which is probably almost completely empty because mumbo, who begs joel for anything to display, looks like he’s never fought a duggie in his life. eventually mumbo gives joel a key to the sewers, which are way cooler than they have any right to be, and that’s where he finds jevin’s secret sewer shop. jevin lives in town. he just also has a shop hidden underground. joel has stopped asking questions by now.

and then there are the three who live by the beach. etho spends most of his time tinkering around the fishing hut or hovering around bdubs, but sometimes he drives the bus to the desert. only sometimes. there might be something under his mask. no one knows for sure. gem runs the fish shop most days and she claims she’s a sailor, but joel has never seen a single working boat around despite all the ocean. she can also hold her breath underwater for an uncannily long amount of time, like, scarily so, and will sometimes disappear for a few days and return with an abundance of treasures. joel has never seen her leave by boat. grian fishes a lot and runs the shop when gem can’t, and he sometimes talks as though the sea can speak to him. skizz has caught him staring into space for extended periods of time. one time he waded into the water and just stood there, head down, muttering to himself.

apparently there used to be a lighthouse but “it’s gone now”. gem says if they ask bdubs nicely enough maybe they can build another one, but she and grian are banned from build requests after the last incident with their pet snails (joel has never seen the snails, but scar complains about them enough to convince him they’re real).

there also might be some kind of wizard who lives in the creepy tower in the woods. skizz has heard he’s the one who helps maintain the power in the valley, and joel’s convinced he hallucinated seeing him once until he recieves a letter from the wizard himself, and visits him only to find that the strange fire-creature he saw that one time was, in fact, tango, who is human for the most part, he just sets himself on fire sometimes.

[oblique-lane]

more mercenary analysis, whichever merc you want <3

Not a mercenary but... Okay!

Let's dissect Pauling

Always so collected, responsible and efficient. The one who is not afraid to get her hands dirty for the sake of a goal, and her performance is always one hundred percent. What could possibly be not cool about her?

Well, maybe the fact that this all is, in fact, an act. Of course it is.

I'm not saying her determination and dedication to her job aren't sincere decisions of her heart, she really enjoys it and shines in her work. It's just a matter of WHY and WHAT she's doing it for. And on what scale.

For her, her job is EVERYTHING. Eagerly working 364 days a year with barely any rest, masochistically putting herself in so much danger, blindly following the boss's instructions, not even hesitating to kill people standing on the way...

Wow, there's gotta be something going on here.

Well, obviously the Administrator plays A HUGE role in this situation. Why would Pauling trust her so much? Referring to the comics, Pauling trusted her wholeheartedly on whatever the Administrator was planning, even though she didn't know what it was. This blind following that vaguely resembles nothing less than a weird somewhat child-to-a-mother attachment. It's just a Boss, just a job, why?

Because that's what it is. Mother issues. Very apparent.

We don't know anything about Pauling's past, so there's where the headcanons begin:

I'm assuming her birth mother was very neglectful and dismissing, never acknowledged her daughter's accomplishments and struggles. No matter how hard Pauling tried to become "worthy" in her eyes, it seemed to be never enough, as if she didn't even exist at all. Maybe her mother was a substance addict or something and their household wasn't safe and stable, so Pauling had to become an adult early and run away from home as a teenager and find a job to get by.

(I assume that because I believe there was a mention in the canon lore that Ms.Pauling had been working for the Administrator for long long years (don't remember exactly), indicating that she started working when she was still a minor).

So, being taken under the Administrators wing, her young wounded brain found a substitute for a very thing she was lacking, subconsciously clinging onto the Administrator as a newly mother figure, in order to "get it right this time".

Administrators Strictness, responsibility and demandingness were the most favorite qualities of a person of authority in Pauling's eyes, in contrast to the laziness, unaccountability and indifference of the environment in which she grew up. She could finally strive.

This time she would show the mother figure that she's worthy, she's important and irreplaceable; she exists. She would prove that no amount of hardship is too much for her if it means approval for the Administrator.

And the Administrator kind-of-sort-of gave Pauling this pseudo-love in return, encouraging her to sacrifice herself even more for their work. Which is at the very least unfair, and at most just predatory. Administrators "love" was conditional, in contrast with when the real motherly love Pauling unknowingly expected. Administrator was too immature for a mother figure, too much in power for a partner or a friend, yet too close for a formal boss. What is this!? Something not nice.

The Administrator doesn't love Pauling for Pauling, she loves her working qualities. And thus, Paulings subconscious guess was confirmed that "I'm only important when I'm doing the job. I AM the job."

Tying your worth to what you DO instead of what you are is a huge dangerous existential rout one could choose. But she never really knew her importance outside of her skills, so she wouldn't know.

Now imagine how actually painful that character arc was for her, when the Administrator proved herself to be unreliable and secretive, and when Pauling started to question her intentions for the first time.

"... Because I trusted you!"

"Then why are you questioning me now?"

It wasn't even the real conversation between them, just Pauling's mind torturing her.

It reminded me of the crisis of a 4-year-old when they realise that their parents aren't perfect; they don't know anything and they CAN hurt you.This shattering illusion of almighty love. When a child stops believing that the "harsh love" their mother treats them with is simply an abuse.

Wouldn't it be terrifying to realise in your 20s thar despite running for "the mother's approval" all your life, you will never truly get it. If your mother failed to provide it to you at such a young age, nothing will truly substitute that, especially now, when you're an adult, no one will love your inner child the way it was supposed to be loved.

Unless you yourself decide to take that role.

...

Realistically speaking, it's not nearly that sever with Pauling! She's happy in the environment she's in, there's lots of interests for her to explore (Guns, fights, killin'!) So many adventures every day! Even if Pauling has her inner suffering, it's not that bad aa I describe it. Her mother problems may actually be an advantage, a reason she is such a good and caring boss for the mercenaries.

I'm just edgying things down for the sake of the clearer analysis. But still...

If the Administrator will be gone and Pauling loses her life-dedicated job... What will be left? Who is Pauling once Mann Co is no more? Can she answer that?

References:

– A video that helped me better understand the Good Girl mask:

– "Lise Bourbeau's 5 soul wounds model: Injustice"

[chalkrub]

mockley time it's mockley time will you have some mockleys of mine

[copypastus]

Poly+ ACOTAR Week - Day 1 Beginnings (Lucien/Tamlin/Feyre) @polyacotarweek

With how often Lucien was around for their dates in book 1, I really thought we were heading towards a happy throuple or at least a threesome.

[tomaturtles]

Happy Campus Apocalypse volume 1 16th anniversary here's something to celebrate

[nerdy-hyperfixations]

"Ford is intellectually smart and Stan is emotionally smart" is a statement that makes me want to nose dive into academic studies in order to single-handedly redefine the categories of intelligence because that *cant* be right.

[artkaninchenbau]

Wanted to make an Egghead-themed sticker sheet for a looong time, and once I got to it I noticed had enough room for a few more extras after the Strawhats were done... So here's some Cross Guild chibs for you

[idle-compy]

rough version of an idea ive had for a while

[surreal-duck]

live drama adaptations part 2 (prev)

cast reveal and girls movie night 🔥

[somewhereincairparavel]

'i hate jason grace because he thought he was worthy enough to compete with percy' I'm sorry have y'all SEEN jason. this man defeated a TITAN without weapons and his bare hands to the point the titan wanted to rise from the UNDERWORLD with the help of a GODDESS to seek vengeance over him. I think we can cut him slack for having some well deserved self respect bc I'd brag too wtf

[sunnyaliceart]

Hard Trick Life

Couldn't get this idea out of my head. Gosh, I love Ghost Trick!

[royaltea000]

Putting my pretty princess in different outfits again

[luciennelune]

I'm supposed to be sleeping but my brain has decided to list out all of the Chain's deepest fears instead :) So here's each boy and the thing he's most afraid of:

Time - Being forgotten or abandoned. Specifically because of how often this happened in his adventures, how he constantly made connections with others only for it all to be undone and get treated like a stranger by people he considered friends.

Legend - Losing his loved ones. He's suffered the deaths of so many people he cares about, he's not sure he could handle it again. Emphasis on the fact that he's scared of them dying, not just being separated from them or parting ways. It's the finality of death that scares him, the idea that he'd never be able to get them back.

Four - Losing his sense of self. He heavily values his identity and all the things that make him himself. Everything from his flaws to his skills to his habits. He dreads the thought of being put into a mould or forced to fit in with everyone else. Even something like wearing a uniform can make him uncomfortable because he feels like it's stifling his personality.

Hyrule - Death. He's spent so much of his life in survival mode that he struggles to switch out of it. He can be overly sensitive to minor threats, always anxious about basic things like food, shelter, water. If he feels like he's in a dire situation, there's about a 50-50 chance he'll either hyper focus or panic about what to do. Either way, he will desperately fight to stay alive, no matter what methods he has to resort to.

Warriors - Lack of control. He needs to know what's happening at all times. He needs to know what might happen, what he can do about it, and what the outcome could be. The minute something happens that he genuinely can't predict or change in some way, he starts to shut down.

Wild - Confinement/Lack of freedom. He has an innate need to travel and explore, constantly moving from one place to another whenever he feels like it. In a less physical sense, he also values his freedom to make decisions for himself. Being denied this freedom will cause him to lash out and rebel.

Sky - Wasting time. He values every minute and every second of the day. If he's not able to be working towards a goal or putting time towards things he cares about, then he's spending it resting to preserve his energy. While he doesn't have to be moving constantly, he does feel a lot of pressure to use his free time on important people or hobbies. He gets restless and impatient when he can't.

Twilight - Being useless. He was raised to help others whenever he can, and he almost always can. As a result, though, he feels like he needs to step in and help all the time. Being unable to do so makes him anxious and overbearing. It doesn't matter how small the task, he needs to have some kind of burden he can carry to make life easier for somebody else.

Wind - Disappointing the people around him. Wind is an overachiever. He strives to exceed the expectations placed on him. He goes out of his way to do big, incredible things, because he desperately wants to make his loved ones proud. The thought of doing the opposite: upsetting them, or disappointing them, makes him withdraw into himself.

[smile-files]

who let mephone direct the purim play?? (edit: fixed a typo lol)

(objectober 2024 day 7: production)